Field
This invention relates to a remaining fuel level displaying method for a fuel cell system and a fuel cell equipped vehicle.
Related Art
JP2006-112492A discloses a fuel supply device that releases a fuel from some of multiple fuel tanks. In this fuel supply device, a main stop valve of one of the fuel tanks is opened at the time of start-up to determine whether the fuel tank is filled with fuel. If filling with the fuel is determined, main stop valves of all the fuel tanks are opened. Then, the fuel is released from all the fuel tanks, a remaining fuel level is detected based on the state of the released fuel, and the detected remaining fuel level is displayed on a remaining level indicator.
In the conventional fuel supply device, the main stop valve of one fuel tank is opened at the time of start-up to determine whether the fuel tank is filled with the fuel and a remaining fuel level is displayed on the remaining level indicator. By contrast, in a fuel cell equipped vehicle, the main stop valve of the fuel tank is opened after a starter switch is turned on. This causes a problem in the fuel cell equipped vehicle in that a remaining fuel level cannot be displayed on the remaining level indicator in a period from when the starter switch (also called an “ignition switch”) is turned on to when the main stop valve of the fuel tank is opened.